Often Ultra-Violet (UV) light is used to remove unwanted organic material, such as viruses, bacteria and other bio-organisms from the air or water. In the applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 6,589,489 issued Jul. 8, 2003 (the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference), an air purifier is described that uses UV light. Contaminated air enters such a device and is subject to UV light from one or more lamp sources. The air that leaves such a device is significantly reduced in unwanted organic material.
To increase efficiency, the UV produced by the sources within the air purifier is preferably not absorbed by the inner surfaces but, rather, is reflected. Often inner surfaces of such air purifiers are made of aluminum to provide a suitable amount of UV reflection. In a more sophisticated approach, these inner surfaces may be provided with a self-cleaning UV reflective coating, such as a coating described in applicant's previously filed U.S. Patent publication no. 20030059549 published Mar. 27, 2003 (the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference).
Where the UV reflective surfaces are compromised in some manner, it may become necessary to remove and refurbish, or simply replace, the air purifier. This could be an expensive venture. Where it is desired to purify air passing through existing ducting, it may be necessary to divert the air through a suitably constructed air purifier. However, such a solution can be awkward to implement and can increase the resistance to air flow through the duct work. Therefore, there is a need for an approach to purifying air that may ameliorate these problems.